Panel mountable electrical connectors are well known for connecting a wiring harness, or the like, to another electrical device, such as a second electrical connector, in a panel such as a housing or chassis. The second connector may be terminated to another wiring harness, a cable, a circuit board or a second panel. Panel mounted electrical connectors usually include a housing having terminals mounted therein, the housing typically being of nonconductive material which may be partly or entirely molded from plastic. The housing includes a mating end with structure that permits mating and unmating with the second electrical connector. The mating end usually is the insertion end of the connector.
Heretofore, panel mountable electrical connectors often have been mounted directly to the panel. The mating end of the connector is inserted through an aperture in the panel. Means are provided on the connector housing for achieving secure mounting to the panel. For example, the connector housing may include a stop flange which exceeds the cross-sectional dimensions of the mounting aperture in the panel. A portion of the connector housing will extend through the mounting aperture and will be engageable with separate retaining means, such as a nut or clamp engageable against the opposite side of the panel. A portion of the panel therefore will be locked between the stop flange, the connector housing, and the separate retaining means. In other such panel mountable connectors, integral latch arms engage the panel, thereby avoiding the need to employ separate panel engaging means with the electrical connector housing. A portion of the panel will be locked between the integral latch arms and the stop flange.
In addition, many of the panel mountable electrical connectors described above include the provision of anti-vibration means to protect the connector components or the mating connection of the connector with the second electrical connector from vibrations due to the mounting of the connector. The applications can range from automobiles to refrigerators and countless other environments. For instance, the connector housing often is provided with an anti-vibration arm which engages one side of the panel and which is yieldable or sufficiently flexible to bias the connector against the panel and to take up any slack therebetween which might otherwise result in rattling of the connector in response to vibrations. Still further, panel mountable electrical connectors often include polarizing ribs which also project outwardly of the connector housing to prevent the connector from being mated with the second connector in an incorrect orientation.
Most of the connector housings of such connectors are unitarily molded of dielectric material such as plastic or the like. The outwardly projecting stop flanges, latch arms, anti-vibration arms and polarizing means all are molded integrally with the housing. It can be understood that such unitarily molded structures which perform such a multitude of functions can become quite complicated, difficult to mold with integrity, and the outwardly projecting latches, stops, arms etc. are prone to tangling and breakage, particularly with the strong handling and high insertion forces often carried out by operators in using panel mountable electrical connectors. The present invention is directed to solving this myriad of problems by providing a panel mountable connector with various improved features to facilitate insertion of the connector housing through the panel aperture and to prevent or minimize tangling and breakage problems.